Ventilated spoiler



Sep@ M, 1943 P. s. BAKER VNTILATED SPOILER Filed Dec. 27,1940

4Patented Sept. 14, 194,3

UNiTED STATE s prrr-ENT ori-fica` vEN'rrLA'rEn sromnn raul s. Baker, Fairfield, conn., assigner to United Aircraft Corporation, lEast Hartford, Conn., a-

oorporation of Delaware Application December27, 1940, Serial No. 371,861

'z claims. (ci. 244-42) dered effective by operation of said lift spoiler nap to admit air to the spacebeneath and to the g rear of said lift spoiler ap to increase the eflecif tiveness of said flap 4and render-the control of the airplane by s aid lift spoiler flap more sensitive,

particularly at small amplitudes of lift spoiler f flap movement.

wing and an aileron I8 is hinged at the rearward edge of the main wing portion between the outer'end of the nap I6 and the outer end ofthe wing. t

ITl'he wing slot 20 is designed to permit a flow of air from the relatively high pressure space below the wing into'the relatively low pressure space above the wing and to convert the static pressure diierence of the air at the entrance and exit of the slot into dynamic energy, evidenced by the high speed of the air iiow at a slot exit, and to direct this high speed air iet over the upper sur- Other objects and advantages will be more u particularly pointed out hereinafter or will become apparentes the description proceeds.

In ythe accompanying drawing, in which like reference numerals are used to designate sim-l ilar parts throughout, there is illustrated a suit- 25,

vention as it will be apparent to those skilled in 'my thevart that various changes in the illustrated arrangement may be 4resorted'to without in any way exceeding the scope of the invention.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a plan view of the outer end portion of an airplane wing schematically showing the application thereto of a wing lift increasingap, an aileron. and a'wingy lift sp iler device constructed accordingv to the ll'lven Dn.

Fig.I 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale 40 of the rearward portion of the wing -illustrated in Fig. 1v taken on the-line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 taken on the line 3 3 of Fig 1, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Figs. Zand 45 taneous downward inclination orldrooping of 3 showing a somewhat vmodified form of control Amechanism. i

Referring to the drawing inv detail, the numeral I0 generally indicates an airplane wing, which face of the lift increasing ilap or the upper surfaces of the ailerons to energize the airflow over these upper surfacesand maintain the lift'of the ifap and ailerons` at high angles of attack of these members. Since the flap or aileron is posi- -tioned immediately to the rear of the slot it is necessaryto direct the air jet issuing from the slotrearwardly over the upper surfaces ofthe flap and ailerons. Ifdesired, the direction control of this air jet may be assisted by a suitable guide vane carried by themovable flap or aileron and indicated at V24. The construction and operation of the wing slot and guide vanearrangement is particularly illustrated and described in United vStates, Patent No. 2,117,607 issued May 17, 1938 to Roger W. Griswold, II.

In the illustrated arrangement lateral or rolling control ofthe airplane may be obtained through either of -two diii'erent sets of instru mentalities acting either entirely independently of each other, 'orwith varying degrees of collaboration. These separate instrumentalities comprise the ailerons, one of which isillustrated and indicated at I8, and thelift spoiler flaps,I one of which is illustrated and indicated'at 26.` The wing lift increasing flap ,I6 isincluded between the inner ends of the ailerons at the rear of the fixed wing portion and is tiltable to a downwardly inclined or drooped position to increase the lift of the wing whenity is desired to sustain night at ying speeds `below the normal stalling speed of the wing. If desired., the lift increasing may have a main relatively xed portion I2 supf 50 lift increasing nap I8 is hingedly secured at the rearward edge'of the fixed wing portion I2' and extends spanwise along the inner portion of eiect of the flap I6 maybe augmented by 'simul- 'both ailerons to provide a lift increasing flap structure for substantially the-entire length of the wing and when the aileronsarethus utilized to increase the wing lift the lateral control funetion may be taken over in part or in total by the lift spoiler flaps. Suitable mechanism for positioning the lift increasing flap and. ailerons is particularly illustrated .and described inUnited the 55 StatesPatentNo. 2,220,194, issued November 5,

`1940, to Frank C. Albright for Aircraft control vantages inhere in positioning the lift spoiler flaps as near the trailing edge of the wing asv practical considerations permit. In the illustrated arrangement this desideratum places the lift spoiler flaps immediately ahead of the wing slot 20. A depression 28 is provided in the upper surface of the wing to receive each of the lift spoiler flaps. The flaps are hinged to the forward edges of the respective depressions as indicated at 30, and, when in their neutral position, have their upper surfaces substantially flush with the upper surface of the wing. Preferably the' depressions are made slightly deeper than the Athickness of the flaps so that the flaps may move somewhat inwardly of their neutral position Just before being projected out of their respective depressions in order to relieve the manual control of the necessity of bringing the flaps from a position of rest into a state of rapid movement with a suddenness that would produce high inertia v forces. As explained in United States Patent No. 2,181,501, referred to above. as one flap is being returned to its neutral position the other flap is first moved inwardly or downwardly a slight amount to a position as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 3 and is then started up reaching its neutral position at the same time as the manual control is brought to neutral. However, as the upward movement'of the flap will have a1- ready been started the manual controlxnay be moved through its neutral position without any serious change `in the' manual effort required.

Thisv above described method of operation will indicate the smoothness and sensitivity desired in the lift spoiler control.

Another factor seriously aifecting the operation of the lift spoilers is 'the varying air pressure acting on the lift spoiler flaps as they are wing cavities to their fully proiected position in which they extend above the wing into the air-f` flow over the upper surface of the It has been foimd possible to effectively oounterbalance these air forces by attaching a balancing vane to each spoiler iiap in such a manner that the balancing vane is positioned below the wing and is j moved from a position within a depression in the v undersurface of the wing into theairflow flowthe wing undersurface as the respective lift spoiler flap is pmiected into the airflow over the wing upper surfaces. AIn the accompanying drawing, vanecerrying mnsareshown 4securedtotheforwardportionofthieliftspoiler ,nep and morted withtbensp' ontheplvot 3l.

provides a vpractical arrangement. inV which the armsmayswingdown'astheflapistiltedup- ,.OtSiI.

5 ahead of the lift spoiler flap cavity 28 so that the angle of the vane relative to the undersurface of the wing will change from a condition in which the vane is substantially parallel to and flush with the wing undersurface when the lift spoiler loflap is in its neutral position to a condition in which the vane is more or less perpendicular to the Wing undersurface and the direction of airflow along the undersurface of the wing when the flap is fully extended, this latter position being 5 clearly shown in broken lines in Fig. 3. The crosssectional shape of the' balancing vane 36 and its actual dimensions may be adjusted for the pary ticular installation to achieve the objective of maintaining the stick force, that is, 'the manual effort necessary to move the lift spoiler` flap from its retracted to its fully extended position, below a prescribed maximum value and to insure a smooth graduation of the necessary manual effort as the lift spoiler ap is moved between its retracted and its fully extended position. This does not mean, however, that the stick force should be constant at all angles of the lift spoiler flap as it has been found desirable to have this force increase proportionally to the' amount 'of 3o projection of the flap so that the pilot may at all times sense the' amount of control exerted by the lift spoilers by the degree of manual effort required to move the lift spoilers to various angular positions with respect to the wing.

For a more complete description of the balancing vane and supporttherefore reference may be had to UnitedStates application Serial No. 371,860, filed December 27, 1940, by Rex B. Beisel, i'o;` Balanced spoilers, and assigned to the assignee 40 of the present invention.

In addition to the inertia of the lift spoiler flaps' and the variations in the air forces acting thereon as the flaps are moved between their neutral and extended positions, there are other factors which seriously aifect the smoothness and sensitivity of the control by these members and it is among the objects of this invention to overcome any adverse effect of these other factors on the' smoothness and sensitivity of the uit spoiler Y control. moved from their retracted position within the'l One such other factor has to do particularly with the'wing slot Il. this slot were permitted to come in contact with the undersurfaces of the lift spoiler flaps this air would. exert a force on the flaps tending to tilt them upwardly about their respective hinge piv- Even' when the wingslots are substantially closed, as shown in Fig. 2, the higher pressum of the air at the slot entrance below the 50 wing would still exert an upward force on the rearward portion of the lift spoiler naps resulting in an unbalanced condition of the flaps when in their neutral position and at low 'angles of pro- Jection above the wing. Since such forces would g5 seriously interfere with the operation of the flaps Yly near their neutral positions, it has been found desirable to structurally separate the lift spoiler flaps completely from the wing slot. In the present arrangement this object is accom- 7o' pushed .by providing continuan forward wsu :s

'forthewingslotflwhichwailextendsfromthe rearwardedgeofthebottomwingcoveringto therearwardedgeoftheupperwingcoveringa apositionrearwardly'oftheleedingedgesofthe wardlyandthearmswillnotinterferewiththeru liftincreesingiiapandtheaiieronsandspecing If the air flowing through the rearward edge of each depression 2l forward- -ly from the wing slot exit, as indicated by the clination of the lift increasing flap and the ailerons.

A further factor affecting the smoothness and sensitivity' of the lift spoiler flap control is the relatively poor effectiveness experienced in liftspoiling effect at relatively smali\axnplitudes of llift spoiler movements when'the space beneath and to the rear of the lift spoiling flap is not ventilated. This effect is particularly noticeable in an arrangement such as that illustrated where the energizing wing slot is positioned immediately. to the rear of the lift spoiler iiap since this slot will tend to maintain the surface iiow of air over the rearward upper surface of the wing energized to a considerable extent and a small am'- plitude of lift spoiler flap projection will thus tend to give only a relatively small decrease in lift of the wing rather than to immediately cause a definite and appreciable decrease in lift of the por--l tion of the wing affected by the lift spoiler'. -This relatively poor effectiveness at small amplitudes occasions an undesirable unevenness in control since there is at first a relatively slow decrease of the lift ofthe portion of the wing affected by the lift spoiler followed by a rather sudden decrease as the lift spoiler is .broughty to a position of greater amplitude which may be too rapid to be 1 accurately controlled. This dimculty is overment in which the lift spoiler flap B2 is positioned entirely at the rear of therixed wing portion and is separated from the wing slot 20 only by the 8 and is dimensioned so as to provide a gap between the front of the shieldand the adjacent portion of the flap when the flap is projected out of its positionvwithin the wing contour as shown in full lines in Fig. 4. This flap is also provided e wth a balancing vane 5B which functions in the arrangement so described and illustrated, but

come in the present invention by providing a con l.

. trolled wing gap-through the wing opening to the space beneath and to the rear oi' each lift spoiler flap. In'the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, the provision of such a wing gap is convenientlyaccomplished by omitting a portion of the covering within the depressions 2l and 38 thus permitting air to flow from the undersurface of the wing-through the interior l of the wing and out of the wing upper surface be- `neath and to the rear of the lift spoiler nap. In

the illustrated arrangement, a portion of the covering l0 constituting the bottom of the lift spoiler flap depression 2l is omitted to provide a hole or aperture 4I the edges of which are indicated at 42 and Il. A portion of the covering forming the depression 38 is also omitted to provide an aperture Il inthe bottom of the recess 3l the edges of which aperture are indicated at 4I and Ill 'in Fig. 3. The dimensions of the apertures 4i and 4l will be adjusted to the requirements of the particular installation and have not been found to be critical so long as they are large enough to permit a suflicient now of air to thevspace beneath the lift spoiler flaps to disrupt the streamlined or stratified airflow over the lift increasing flap even at lift spoiler nap movementsfof small amplitudes.

same manner as the vane 3B shown in the abovedescribed form of the invention except that it does not necessarily control the entrance to the wing gap opening beneath and to the rear of the lift spoiler iiap 52.

While a suitable mechanical arrangement has been hereinabove described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing for the purpose of disclosing the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular that changes in the size, shape and arrangement of the various parts may be resorted to as come within the scope of the sub-ioinedrclaims.

Having now described the invention so that others skilled in the art may clearly understand the same, what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

l. In an aircraft wing having a relatively fixed portion, tiltable flap members hinged at the rear of said fixed portion, a wing slot between said tiltable members and said fixed portion having its rear wall constituted at least in part bythe front portions of said flap members, a control vides a smooth and sensitive control at small am- 70 plitudes of flap movement and is more eilicient at large amplitudes and the control forces are not disturbedand unbalanced by extraneous forces, acting on the flap.

In Fig. a there is shown amodified edge in a depression d fixed wing portion.

fiappivoted at its forwar in the upper surface of s vand a flap balance vane eceivable in adepression inthe lower surface of said fixed wing portion, said depressions having openings therein constituting an air flow gap extending through saidv fixed wing portion, "and afrelatively fixed structuralmember having at its upper end a small chordwise dimension and constituting at least the upper portion ofthe forward wall of said wing slot and permanently separating the wing gap opening in said upper depressionfrom y verging reenergizing wing slot having its rear wail constituted at least in part' by the front portion of said trailing edge flap, a lift spoiler flap carried by said relatively fixed portion ahead of the upper end of said slot and having its yfront edge i pivotally connected to said fixed portion and its .rear edge adjacent to the upper end of said slot,

said relatively fixed wing portion having an opening in the upper surface thereof beneath said lift spoiler flap and an opening in the lower surface thereof communicating with said upper surface openingthrough the interior of said wing, said openings constituting a wing gap located immediately ahead of said wing slot and controlled small chordwise extent comprising at least the upper portion of the forward wall of said wing slot carried by said relatively fixed portion and separating the interior of said wing and said upper surface opening from said wing slot, whereby raising the rear edge of said lift spoiler fiap will direct air from said wing gap across the upper end of said wing slot.

4. Lift control means for an airplane wing having a forward portion, and a tiltable rearward portion comprising` wing flaps carried by said forward portion immediately to the rear thereofl an upwardly and rearwardly convering wing slot between said iiaps and said forward portion having for its rearward wall the forward portion of l 2,829,177 by said lift spoiler flap, and structural means of opening through the interior of said wing whereby, when said lift spoiler fiap is raised air flowing through said wing opening and venting near the upper end of said wing slot will spoil thereenergizing effect of said wing slot.

6. In an aircraft wing having a relatively fixed portion, a trailing edge flap hinged to said fixed said fiap and for its forward walls. curved memf ber rigidly secured at the rear of said forward wing portion, said forward wing portion having an opening in. the upper surface thereof adjacent to said curved member but on the opposite side thereof from said wing slot and an opening in the lower surface thereof communicating with said'upper surface opening through the interior of said wing, and a lift spoiler fiap hinged at its forward edge to said forward wing portionl inl position to close said upper surface opening wh'en retracted, whereby when said trailing edge flaps are tilted downwardly said wing slot will improve the lift characteristics of said wing 'by re-energizing the airflow over the upper surfaces of said trailing edge fiaps but when said lift spoiler fiap is tilted upwardly it will spoil the lift characteristics of said wing and air flowing from said upper surface opening at the upper end of said wing slot will spoil the re-energiizng effect of said slot.

5. In an aircraft wing comprising. a relatively' fixed forward portion, a tiltable iiap carried by said forward portion and disposed immediately to the rear thereof, and an upwardly and rearwardly converging wing slot between said forward portion and said flap having a forward wall -fixed relative to said relatively fixed wing portion, wing lift control means comprising, a lift spoiler fiaphinged at its forward edge to said fixed wing portion in a position such that when retracted its rearward edge is adjacent to the upper end of said wing slot, said fixed wing portion having anopening in its upper surface beneath said liftspoiler nap and an opening in its lower surface connected with said upper surface portion. `a wing slot between said fiap and said wing portion having 'its rearward surface constituted by the forward portion of said flap and its forward wall constituted by a member rigidly integrated with the structure of said fixed portion extending downwardly and forwardly from therearward edge of said fixed portion to provide an upwardly and rearwardly converging wing slot, a longitudinal recess in the upper surface of said fixed wing portion adjacent the upper end of said slot having an opening into the interior -of the wing, a longitudial recess in the lower surface of said nxed wing portion also having an opening into the interior of the r`wing, a spoiler flap receivable in said upper recess operative to control the openingv therein and-a fiap balance vane movable with said spoiler vflap receivable in said lower recess and effective to control said lower opening, said fiap and vane acting wh'en said flap is raised to open an airflow gap through said wing to spoil the re-energizing effect of said wing slot.

'7. In an aircraft wing comprising a relatively fixed forward portion, a tiltable iiap carried by said forward portion and disposed immediately to the rear thereof, and an upwardly and rearwardlyconverging wing slot between said forward portion and said iiap having a forward wall fixed relative to said' relatively fixed wing portion, wing vlift control means comprising, a lift spoiler flap hinged' at its forward edge to said fixed wing portion in a position such that when retracted its rearward edge is adjacent to the upper end of said wing slot, said fixed wing portion having an opening in the. upper surface thereof beneath of said wing slot will spoil the re-energizing effect of said wing'slot.

PAUL S. BAKER. 

